A man whose first job was as a lifeguard at Wythenshawe’s leisure centre returned 30 years later to become the boss, in charge of more than 300 staff.

Eddie Flanagan, 57, chief executive of the Forum Trust, moved to Wythenshawe as a lad in the 50s as part of the council overspill and still lives in Newall Green.

He took a lifeguard job at The Forum in the 1970s over the summer holidays.

He said: “Moving here was a great experience because we’d lived in a two-up two-down in Hyde so it was good to see so much green space and trees.

“It’s changed a lot, become more joined together and the green spaces are now dominated by small housing estates and shopping precincts. But it’s still the garden city.”

He said: “I did a bit of pot collecting in a bar and then I moved on to being a lifeguard.

“After my education I became a full-time lifeguard here. I think a lot of people my age who wandered into the leisure industry as a summer job had opportunities as it boomed in the 1970s.

“I worked hard at school and enjoyed my sport and leisure.”

Eddie, who played football for the Manchester Gregorians, later went into junior management and moved on to work for leisure services at the city council, before returning to Wythenshawe 30 years later.

He added: “When the job here became available two things resonated with me – one was that The Forum was where I had started this journey and secondly it was an opportunity to work in the area where I’ve been brought up and hopefully provide services that make a difference to residents’ lives. That really is rewarding.”

The Forum, used by more than 200,000 people a week, underwent a major revamp 10 years ago, and now has a pool, leisure centre, library, adult learning centre, nursery, cafe and health centre.

Eddie says Wythenshawe has been unfairly judged at times.

He said: “In recent times the regeneration of Wythenshawe in terms of investment in schools and facilities has been fantastic.

“Isolated incidents have been taken out of proportion and blown up.

“It has its issues but so does every area in Manchester in terms of the challenges we all face.

“It’s a great place to live, work and bring up a family. I really do think that sometimes the way it is portrayed is totally out of kilter with the reality.

“Most people here are hard-working, law-abiding, and respectful of one another.”